Referees to 26 May 2013

There is a huge Final at Twickenham when Leicester Tigers play Northampton Saints and the all-Ireland Final of the Pro 12, the competition for the Celtic nations.

There is a huge Final at Twickenham when Leicester Tigers play Northampton Saints and the all-Ireland Final of the Pro 12, the competition for the Celtic nations.

The men to referee these two top matches are Wayne Barnes and Johnny Lacey whose status in the refereeing world has risen greatly this year.

There is a Final in Italy with Giuseppe Vivarini to referee it and two semifinals in France, both in Nantes.

The Pacific Nations Cup gets going in Yokohama and Edmonton. This year the USA and Canada take part for the first time though the reigning champions, Samoa, will not be there as they will be part of a quadrangular tournament in South Africa in June. The referee for the first match is Angus Gardner, a young referee who refereed at the Junior World Championship in South Africa and has done well in Super Rugby this season. It will be his third Test but his first one at this level. In 2011 he and Andrew Lees referee Oceania Cup matches in Port Moresby, the capital of Papua New Guinea. There Gardner refereed Papua New Guinea vs Vanuatu and Vanuatu vs Niue.